♪ >> good evening everyone, i am john halperin -- john heilemann with mark halperin. we are in farmville, virginia presidentialvice debate. it starts in a little less than half an hour, after 9:00 eastern. we will be filling the time in hopefully an interesting and entertaining way over the course of the next 30 minutes. the debate, 90 minutes long. it will run without break until

10:30 where we will be back for a postgame analysis. ,he moderator for the event someone who has not done this before. we will see how well she will do it her job, very important. the moderators have a big role. give me your insights, discussion points of what you are excited about this evening. mark: these are two guys, mike both game tim kaine, convention speeches that were not particularly memorable. both were seen by the elites in what youregardless of think of their politics, as ready to be president. i do not think anyone is tuning in to see if there is a major gap, or anything that undermines competence to see that they are ready. it is more about how they might affect the race overall. john: the major thing that is true, is that you're there is a ofrogate for the nominee your party.

let's break it down in terms of individual candidates. what does mike pence have to do to win? donald trump's running mate, mike pence has dealt with questions about trump's controversial answers and positions. 30,000 people, he needs to stop the bleeding on the republican side. whereds to come out here the storyline is, republicans have stopped going backwards, they have forward momentum. john: it is fair to say the trump campaign is in a full-blown crisis after the worst week he has had. right on the edge of catching up to hillary clinton, but it has all been that ever since the debate. if you talk to people around pence, they say something simple. he will win this debate if he makes america a little more comfortable with the idea of donald trump as president. there are a lot of things that could go into it, but if that is the takeaway, he has done his objective. mark: i know they would like to put hillary clinton -- for mike

pence, the story of the night is, democrats on defense, republicans on offense. since the first debate when trump did come in he roughly tied the race. republicans have played nothing but defense. think is other thing i true is that we are ready know theync by mistake has said already ran the debate. but we need to look at the economy on offense, and the clinton scandals. we will hear a lot of those. mark: it was posted on the internet. tim kaine, former governor of the state of virginia where this debate is being held. demand --unfair core advantage. what should he do for democratic win? john: he is in the do no harm situation. if he does nothing that screws up tonight, does not make a big

headline, adequately defend hillary clinton, she will win, because she is ahead in this race. as long as tim kaine does nothing to jeopardize the lead she has nationally and in battleground states, he will have maintained. mark: every day the democrats are not losing their winning. on the other hand, clearly, he what hasbe part of been the clinton team project for months, which is defined donald trump as unacceptable by temperament, by issue positions, by character, to be president. john: there are a lot of things for him to go on offense. you think about issues like nafta, the iraq war, a variety of things were he and donald trump at different positions. and things he has gotten in -- he cameere pence undoubtably in defended the kahn family. to drive a wedge between trump and pence he would like to do.

is a nice guy. america could become double, and they are less high-voltage, not titanic feet -- figures. john: they are less known than their bosses, but less unpopular than their bosses. we just talked about the things they are trying to achieve. what are they trying not to achieve? what is the biggest worry for mike pence, the biggest screwup? bite -- produce a sound they are making overhead announcements, the debate will start soon. the formal debate will start after 9:00. they want people to get seated. pence does not the night to be known from a sound bite from him where he is knowledge is the democrats main argument. he does not want to suggest amplification of

the admission the donald trump cannot be president. john: his focus on this ticket, we know donald trump may be wanted someone like newt gingrich or chris christie, but he was put on the ticket to reassure the country and reassure conservatives, those conservatives that had worries he was theretrump, for policy and not to make a mistake. it could seem that he undercuts trump, or he could overpraised trump in a way that seems hyperbolic. , likeling him a genius chris christie did over this tax issue. you can imagine them screwing up and doing that. member of the house of representatives, governor of indiana, i talk radio personality. he understands communication. he is underrated bite some people. some people. by

overheadan announcement, which apparently, we will be competing for audio for the duration of this broadcast. let's go over to tim kaine. what he think the democrats are bracing themselves for? john: hillary clinton's biggest weakness in terms of what makes herwhat he think the democrats e bracing themselves unfavorable,s considered untrustworthy. and the cluster of controversies. how does he react? if he handles them well, he will stay out of trouble. but he needs to handle things in a more direct way. that is the place where he could slip and make a bad mistake. --k: one of the concert complaints, not as many tough questions for donald trump as for hillary clinton. we will see if there is pressure from the cbs moderator, maybe

ask tim kaine direct questions, ask him to defend hillary clinton on things like her e-mails. john: there is always a question of bill clinton, hovering out there. that was raised last might, could be raised around bill clinton tonight. it is hard for people who were close to them. is thatd mike pence member of the house of representatives, and has been very critical of bill clinton and his personal life and has used to that to gain support within the conservative movement. are: this broadcast we doing is live on bloomberg television, also live streamed on twitter in conjunction with our partners on this. you can follow this. we have a live stream on twitter so you can watch this on your computer, laptop, mobile device, a bunch of places. theill be here before debate, it is very exciting.

for now, we will take a quick break. then we will have more coverage from longwood university in farmville, virginia. ♪

♪ >> welcome back to our special bloombergpolitics coverage of tonight's vice presidential debate. we are live on bloomberg tv and streaming live at debates. twitter.com. this is less than 20 minutes away. now, thening me preview of how both sides are preparing for that event. two of my favorite guys, preparing.

kevin, let's talk about mike pence. you spend a lot of time covering the trump campaign. the said he did not take shots he needed to take on hillary clinton. a big part of his mission, will it be to take hillary down, or try to normalize donald trump for people who may not be familiar with them? >> i put that question to some senior trump aides a couple hours ago. they will try to do both. he has to get this trump campaign on offense after a series of missteps. >> how to they spin the tax returns? to say this is why we are not releasing them after this? >> he will not do it like donald trump does it, he won't call hillary crooked hillary. measured, but at the same time, flip the conversation. flip it back on tim kaine. independentlot of

voters just as frustrated with hillary clinton as they are with donald trump. it is a lesser of two evils argument. if mike pence can normalize it and make senator tim kaine look awkward, it would be a good night for the trump campaign. >> is his only job tonight to not make that big mistake, or will he try to hit hard against donald trump? some of the things he said about women against the last week -- what will be his message? >> those are the two things he will have to do. he will have to hit back when he is attacked, and make sure every time there is an attack on the dingy parries it and quickly pivots to donald trump for the things he said. he wants to make sure donald trump bad week continues. the tax returns, the trump foundation, and all the things trump has seen in terms of bad headlines. tim kaine will try to keep those going. >> that is putting it mildly.

>> some voters don't even know who these two guys are. do they want to keep it personal, or will it be very different from what we saw in hofstra? will they have to sharpen differences on the plan for the economy and immigration? what will they hit hard on tonight? >> tpp. the trump campaign will try to make tim kaine look even more to the right of hillary clinton on the issue of tpp. >> tpp. that is a huge problem. >> i remember governor pence also supporting tbb. >> on the flipside, governor pence has a huge vulnerability, yes, he has turned around indiana's economy, but he had a major bluster with a religious freedom law that the gay community was vehemently against. kaine, supportive of gay marriage, and governor .ence

look for that issue as well to put him on defense about that. but also look for tbp to be a big one. >> we're likely to see some of those cultural issues come up. he is probably going to question -- going to get a question about abortion. tim kaine is in the same place of hillary clinton, he does not support getting rid of that one amendment. is being a catholic, it something he is likely to get pressed on because there is some daylight between he and secretary clinton on that one. >> mark and john are standing by. take it away. mark: making, thank you very much. we are here with the senior advisor to donald trump, speaking on the campaign. and you for joining us. agree that donald trump

and the ticket could use a win tonight to turn things around? >> sure, you could always use a win. the latest polls it looks like a neck and neck race. hillary had a little bump this week, but i think it will quickly erode, just like after the first convention. could we use the when, absolutely. notkaine's record is compared to mike pence's. the number one issue is jobs, fromloyment, he has a it over 8% to 4.8%. for those ordinary workers, who do care greatly about unemployment, maybe some of the media has the luxury of not caring about that issue. but once they look at his record.

john: you mentioned the tim kaine's and mike pence's record. usually it is more about the top of the ticket than the contestants on age. does mike pence want to make this about his record versus tim kaine's or hillary clinton versus donald trump's? you can see just how strong they are on the economy. but i want him a little bit on the offensive. how are they going to defend donald trump's remarks? we hear that, and how is tim kaine going to defend hillary with the e-mail scandal and the clinton foundation? i think he has a much tougher job. i would not want to be in his shoes. a topic orwill be two they did not come up in the first debate between trump and clinton that you would like to see tonight? immigration, hello, that did not come up at all. it is incredible.

cannot come up with any valid reason why lester holt would not have mentioned that. being respectful to stay on the topic of what he was asked. he was never asked about that topic. i would love to see governor pence go out there because he has a great record on immigration. whereas tim kaine and secretary clinton have an awful record. you go to hillary clinton's website, there is nothing on their -- there. noncontroversial thing that both democrats and conservatives agree on. i would like if they went deeper into foreign policy. yes, mike pence was in favor of the iraq war. but that brings balance to the ticket. encompasses the entire branch of the republican party. clinton, i would how tim kainesee,

would defend her record. he seems to be more of a non-interventionist and hillary is a real war hawk. donald trump and hillary clinton are big figures who have overshadowed these running mate so far. tonight we learned donald trump will be live tweeting this debate while it goes on. is there any risk from your point of view that donald trump message on twitter could overshadow mike pence's on the station i, at least when it comes to reporters? >> no, i'm confident. the reason america has fallen in love with donald trump is that he is speaking directly to us. he will be live tweeting while his ticket mate is in this imperative debate, i think it is lovely. john: you concede that donald trump has caused problems for himself by using that twitter machine? >> no, i think the media has been causing problems for him by diorting what he said. the things he said about

machado, i do not think was inappropriate. he is just hitting back what happened all week. nothing he says on twitter on his own i find offensive. john: and raising issues about a sex take that does not exist is not a problem? , we couldually was have that discussion. i have not seen that, i have no knowledge that is true. it was in argentina reality show. or maybe venezuela. it is online. john: we will have to fact -- fact-- back-check check that later. mark: what will make a difference for who wins? most importance to the american people, that is

jobs and employment numbers than the economy. you have a lot of folks in the media who maybe have the luxury, may be they have a few million dollars in the bank, and the economy does not matter to them. i think there is a disconnect between the elite media and the average american voter who says listen, i am tired of hearing why his tweets are bad. the point is, he has the right keeping jobs,ade, bringing back manufacturing jobs, and that is what i care about. stop telling me to dislike him because you do not like what he tweeted. let's keep the focus on jobs and the economy and the average american voter. john: how vulnerable is mike pence on questions where he and donald trump? disagree? -- where he and donald trump disagreed? claims he was never a supporter of the iraq war, there is some dispute about that. how big a problem are those junctions between the top and

the bottom of the ticket? >> not at all. they are never going to agree 100% on issues. but i think it is a strength. when we were in the process of selecting the vp, i thought it would be nice if they selected someone new complements donald trump rather than shares all his decisions. yang approach.nd it encompasses the entire republican party and the varying views, such as foreign policy. mark: thank you so much, great to have you. the debate is about 15 minutes away. the spouses of the two vice presidential candidates are being announced. her father was also the former governor of virginia, so she has the rare and historic position of being both the wife of a governor and the daughter of a governor. those two spouses have been

relatively low-profile in the race. neither of them has become part of the story, which tracks with their husbands, who are as low-profile as we have ever seen any pair of running mates. we will take a break in the moment. the debate will begin after 9:00. this coverage is a shown on bloomberg television, but you might be watching it right now on twitter as part of our partnership with twitter, livestream. we will be back with the posting. but let's take a break and then we will come back to bring you to live coverage here in virginia after this. ♪

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>> welcome back to her live coverage on bloomberg tv and on twitter of the first and only buys presidential debate. i am joined at longwood whoersity by our reporters spoke with those who have not made their mind up. when of my main questions is, who is watching the vice presidential debate tonight and might make their mind up? >> less people than watched the presidential debate last week, and less than will watch the debate next weekend. --tcher member why these let's remember, these were conservative choices, both were trying to appease members of their coalition. and, reassure them that they care about them and will speak to their policy wishes. for mike pence, that his conservative.

especially evangelicals and conservative christians. >> but after the week that donald trump has had, doesn't mike pence need to do more than defense? doesn't you need to win back support among women, corrected things, and leave a positive impression on the audien? people may tune in. >> mike pence has always been a grounded republican, staunch republican conservative. i think we will see that tonight. -- we should not expect to see mike pence been on his policies, he will not do it. he will not say anything that would get him in trouble with but hes, donald trump. will put a tamer face on the conservative policies. he will try to explain to the american electorate why he believes what he believes in

hopes that people will see past some of the rhetoric that is and about the right, perhaps see value in the policies he is presenting. we will see if that works with certain members of the electorate that trump has turned off. >> let's put this into context with the polls and states like ohio, pennsylvania, florida. we have seen hillary clinton in florida and pennsylvania and north carolina, opening up more margins since the debate. if we're looking at senator needs in terms of what he to do, willie reach out to those people who feel economically disenfranchised in these states and press the case home on jobs and the economy, or go on the offensive? bet?is your best that -- >> he will not go too far on the offensive. he will go on the offensive as much as he needs to two rain in the obama coalition that the

clinton campaign is a little worried they may be losing millennials, that african-american and hispanic voters may not turn out, and women are a big thing. they voted for obama in record numbers, and so did millennials. if hillary cannot generate that type of enthusiasm and excitement she is in trouble in these very close states. >> who will win tonight's debate? >> i would bet on no clear winner. and if there is no clear winner, comei think clinton-kaine out ahead. donald trump and mike pence have to make up ground somewhere. and that is one less news cycle in which they do not. agree, governor pence has to win this and a landslide to move them forward, or else it is a drop. that plays into the clinton-kaine camp.

it is interesting to see where they go. in terms of what we will see in the spin room, who will be making the case for -- who will the trump can't put out -- camp put out? >>hey t learned they weren't quite aggressive enough in waited for donald trump to make his own case falls that i think the clinton campaign was out and i think the trump campaign manager to counter that and be a little faster. whether or not releasing ahead will see. good, we >> we go back to mark and john standing by. : we are indeed standing by year.